There’s a lot you can buy on Amazon. It’s one of the largest online retailers in the world and naturally, it even sells products that don’t make it a lot of money. These products are reportedly referred to internally as “CRaP” or “Can’t Realize a Profit.” A new report says that Amazon wants to move away from selling such products. The idea behind this move is to further improve profit margins.
Citing “major brand executives and people familiar with the company’s thinking,” the Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon doesn’t really want to sell CRaP products anymore. The items on this list include bottled drinks and snacks. They typically cost $15 or less. Items that get categorized as CRaP are also “heavy or bulky and therefore costly to ship—characteristics that make for thin or nonexistent margins,” according to the report.
Amazon has reportedly been removing unprofitable items in recent months and is even said to be pushing manufacturers to change their packaging so that their products sell better online. The recently removed six-pack of Coca-Cola Co’s bottled water is one such example.
It was not that expensive so Amazon didn’t have enough profit margin on it, yet it had to ship the heavy pack. That product has now been replaced with a 24 pack that has a higher per bottle cost and ships directly from the manufacturer.
Amazon has reportedly asked other brands to ship products from their own warehouses like Coca-Cola is now doing with Smartwater in order to cut down its own costs. The company hasn’t confirmed or denied the claims made in this WSJ report.
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